Topic: Passbook

The official Apple Store application was updated on Monday with support for one-touch checkout using Apple Pay and Touch ID, marking the start of the online purchasing capabilities of Apple's new digital wallet service.

Apple on Thursday began offering customers in the U.S. and elsewhere the ability to replenish their iTunes Store credit through its Passbook digital wallet application for iPhone when visiting an Apple Store. AppleInsider offers a first look at how it works.

After rolling out the service in a pilot test last week, Apple late Wednesday made iTunes Pass available at Apple Stores across the U.S. and Australia, allowing customers to recharge their iTunes account balance in-store via a Passbook card.

With Apple's Passbook quickly becoming the de facto way for developers to create digital tickets, store cards and passes, Microsoft capitalized on ways to strip the data from .pkpass files and recompile them on handsets running Windows Phone 8.1.

Apple's Passbook gained compatibility with two major apps on Tuesday as British Airways updated its boarding pass and travel title to support the coupon and pass management service, while Subway added integration for customers in the UK.

Users of Apple's Passbook feature for iOS have a new option for getting tickets, coupons, and more delivered to their devices, as Skycore has launched support for cross-carrier delivery of Passbook passes by MMS.

An iPhone-driven e-wallet service from Apple could simplify checking out at the store by presenting users with options based on data such as their location, current balance, or applicable rewards cards.

With Apple rumored to launch a mobile e-wallet in the coming years, potentially as soon as this year, one analysis has noted that the iPhone maker could have a leg up on previous efforts, like Google Wallet, because of the fact that Apple already has hundreds of millions of users' credit card numbers tied to their iTunes accounts.